MADISON, Alabama - The Madison City Council on Tuesday night
officially set in motion a number of high profile road projects by approving a
$27 million bond series.

(File photo)File photo

The loan interest rate is 3.1 percent, a couple of points
lower than the 5.5 percent interest rate the previous time the city borrowed
money in 2005. The new bond will mature in 2037.

Mayor Troy Trulock said the better rate was a combination of lower
interest rates nationwide and the city's recently improved bond rating from
Standard & Poors Ratings Services. The S&P in April increased Madison's
rating from AA to AA+, which is just one notch below the highest score of AAA.

About $7.4 million dollars from the bond will go to paying off
the 2005 bond. The remaining $20 million will go to the first phase - about
a third - of a seven-year, $55 million Capital Improvement Plan.

The city has seven key road improvement projects, such as
the I-565 interchange at County Line Road and Intergraph Road, and it hopes to fund several with Alabama
Transportation and Rehabilitation Improvement Project (ATRIP) funds. If all
ATRIP projects applied for are awarded -- announcement comes in July -- the city can expand the number of capital
projects it tackles by using the bond money as ATRIP matching funds.

Passage of the ordinance was almost anti-climactic to the
council, which has spent most of the year prioritizing the CIP in preparation for
borrowing the money.

"I'm just glad it's almost done," said Council President
Tommy Overcash.

The city recently floated the idea of a half-cent sales tax increase that could generate $2.5 million in annual revenue and allow the city borrow another $20 million for a second phase of Capital Improvement Projects.